


Party for Two

by BarbwireRose



Series: Birthdays Done Right [2]
Category: Captain America (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: M/M, Mood Swings, gentleman!Steve, unecessary abuse of fruit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbwireRose/pseuds/BarbwireRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Loki inadvertently sabotages his own birthday party, Steve has to put aside his own frustrations in order to help the Trickster salvage what remains of the day. *Rewritten 7/5/14</p>
            </blockquote>





	Party for Two

**Author's Note:**

> This is a follow-up to [ Two Dozen Roses](http://archiveofourown.org/works/368269), and after much tweaking I think I'm finally satisfied with this story.

I’m having a party  
A party for two  
Invitin’ nobody  
Nobody but you  
~Shania Twain feat. Billy Currington 

Loki imagined that it was the throat of Captain America in his grasp as his fingernails bit into the skin of his opponent, and the thought gave his troubled mind a measure of peace.

“Damn that man to the lowest levels of hel,” he growled, eyes narrowing into thin slits after his rotund foe refused to yield to his latest assault. “Tis must be some form of Midgardian sorcery,” he noted bitterly, his nose unconsciously wrinkling in distaste as the object of his ire remained steadfastly unchanged.

If he didn’t know any better, Loki would say that his corpulent nemesis was purposefully mocking him, its unmarred features standing out as a testament to his failure. “You won’t be so smug once I’ve flayed the skin from your miserable hide, you vile thing,” he snarled, eyes flashing an ominous blood-red before his nails pierced through tender skin.

All he had wanted was one day, one special day in which everything went according to plan. Was that really asking too much of the Norns?

Having become so caught up in his thoughts of bitterness, Loki was unaware that his skin had begun to fluctuate between its customary ivory tone and the dusky azure that he fought so hard to suppress until he felt something grainy begin to slip through his fingers. It was only then that he noticed his stout adversary was now nothing more than a handful of blackened ash.

Seeing the dusty remains of his latest rival should have dampened his temper, but instead Loki felt his blood begin to simmer anew as he took in the sight of his gray-tinged palms. If Steve hadn’t have picked that moment to secure his wrists in a powerful grip, Loki was sure that he would’ve set his entire kitchen ablaze just out of spite.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, don’t. It’s not worth it.” A bit of the tension in Steve’s face drained away as he glanced at Loki’s hands, his head shaking in bemusement as he asked, “What’d the apple ever do to you, huh?”

“It mocked me,” Loki said icily, pinning the man with one of his more sinister scowls.

“It was an apple,” Steve replied, deliberately drawing out the statement and arching a brow in disbelief.

When he noticed the beginnings of a grin tugging at the blond’s lips, Loki felt the tether on his patience begin to fray and wrenched his hands free from the man’s grasp, his eyes taking on a dangerous gleam as he stated softly, “I suggest that you take care with your tone, Captain, for I am in no mood to be trifled with.”

Recognizing an impasse when he saw one, Steve took a step back and squared his shoulders before he huffed out a humorless chuckle. “You know, you make it really hard to do anything nice for.”

The brittle-sounding chortle was so unlike the Captain’s customary laugh that Loki found himself momentarily thrown off-kilter, his brow furrowing at the thought that perhaps Steve was regretting having answered his invitation.

“I’m starting to,” the blond admitted, and it was only then that Loki realized he had spoken the thought out loud. “If I had known that I’d given up my free afternoon just so I could come here and get the third degree from you, I would’ve just left an apple by the door and called it a day,” Steve muttered, and Loki felt a familiar pang in his chest when the blond began to eye the front door.

He wasn’t about to beg the man to stay, but he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of spending yet another birthday alone either, which meant that he would have to find some sort of compromise. “You may leave if you wish, Captain, for I fear that my mood is not likely to improve,” Loki said stiffly as he shook the ash from his hands, all the while surreptitiously keeping an eye on the man next to him to see if the blond would take the bait.

Steve knew that Loki was offering him an out, albeit in his own unique way, but the urge to leave the god to stew in his own juices slowly ebbed away as he recalled a hand gripping his for dear life, Loki’s way of silently begging not to be left alone.

“Look, I understand that you want today to go smoothly, but I’m not about to walk on eggshells just to avoid another confrontation like this. If my being here is going to upset you…”

“Tis not your presence that distresses me,” Loki hissed, folding his arms across his chest protectively. And boy had that been the wrong thing to say, because now the Captain was coming closer, a look of genuine concern marring his perfect brow.

“Listen, if you want me to stay then you have to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours, because right now it looks like I’m making things worse instead of better,” Steve said mildly, not wanting to provoke another outburst yet unwilling to sweep things under the rug. Just once, he hoped that he could get a straight and honest answer out of Loki.

It was several moments later before Loki finally turned his gaze away from the mess in front of him, his hands twitching with the need to destroy something before he dug his nails into his palms and confessed, “Tis a humiliating experience to be defeated by a simple fruit.”

Ah, so that was the crux of the problem then, was it? Steve’s lips curled into a smirk as his eyes drifted over the pan of botched wax and the pile of mutilated apples that littered the countertop. “You really don’t handle failure very well, do you?” he inquired teasingly, his grin widening when the sour-faced god’s frown deepened at the rhetorical question. “Look, this isn’t the end of world. We can still salvage things if you’re willing to try.”

“What exactly are you suggesting, Captain Rogers?” Loki asked skeptically, an underlying trace of interest coloring his tone.

“What I’m proposing is that we clean up this mess, and then I’ll walk you through the steps to make sure you get it right that way we can hopefully avoid desecrating the rest of our supply.” Steve motioned to the heap of untouched apples piled on the kitchen table and tried not to think about the innocent fruits that had been ruined whilst he’d been busy giving an anxious Thor a status update over the phone.

Although Loki appeared to waver in his decision for a few minutes, Steve knew that he had won when the god finally unclenched his hands and blew out a sharp breath, murmuring, “I suppose ‘twas a fitting punishment for my not having heeded your instructions,” and the wry twist of his mouth was enough to dissipate the lingering tension from the room.

“Well, if memory serves me right, I was supposed to be supervising you before I got sidetracked, so I guess it’s only fair if I show you how to also make caramel ones this time around.”

An almost childish look of wonder lit up Loki’s face at the mention of caramel apples. “You mean to tell me that there are more kinds of candied apples?”

And oh how that question would’ve sounded odd if it had come from anyone else, but it had come from Loki, someone who was accustomed to overlooking the little things in life simply because they didn’t register as important on his radar. Well, Steve was going to do his damnedest to change that, even if it was just for one day.

“Oh there’s plenty more. You can have caramel or chocolate, and you can dip the apple in sprinkles or chocolate chips or even chopped nuts.”

“Mm, those sound delightful,” Loki hummed. He was definitely interested now.

“Oh they are,” Steve drawled, making to move away when a long-fingered hand reached out and snagged his sleeve.

“I should like to try them all,” Loki said eagerly, but his eyes were filled with the unspoken question of whether or not such a feat would be possible.

Steve couldn’t help but liken the look in the Trickster’s eyes to that of a child who had just walked into a candy store for the first time and wanted to try everything but was unsure of what he could or could not have. “In that case I suggest you get to washing off that pile of apples while I go scrounge up some chocolate chips,” he replied with a small grin.

For a moment, it looked as if Loki would object to being given such a menial task, but his unimpressed sneer soon gave way to his customary smirk. “As you wish, Captain Rogers,” and with that he turned to gather up an armful of apples.

Privately, Steve was glad that Loki hadn’t asked to chop up the nuts to use as a topping. While he was sure that it was a task Loki would gladly undertake with gusto, Steve wasn’t about to entrust the god with something sharp, temporary truce or not.

Ѻ

Four hours and ten singed fingers later, Steve finally proclaimed the day to be a success.

“They all look so enticing,” Loki remarked hungrily, and Steve couldn’t resist snickering at the naked lust that was plastered across the Trickster’s face as they both admired the finished products. Luckily, the god hadn’t managed to drool all over the apples, but it was a near thing judging by the way he continued to lick his lips.

“Your sweet tooth is clearly a lot bigger than I would’ve guessed,” Steve said laughingly, “not that there’s anything wrong with that. Everybody’s got to have a weakness.”

Loki made a noncommittal noise under his breath before he selected one of the caramel-coated apples that had been dipped in sprinkles. “And what about you, Captain? What would you say is your weakness?” he asked silkily.

Steve pretended to ponder the inquiry as he surveyed the fruits of their labor, his index finger tracing over stick after stick until he finally came across the first apple Loki managed to get right, a candy one that was positively overloaded with nuts. Suffice it to say, he’d spent a good portion of the afternoon making sure Loki didn’t exhaust their supply of toppings with his overeager dipping methods.

“Cracker Jack.”

Loki pulled his apple away mid-bite and fixed the blond with a perplexed frown, wondering if he had perhaps misheard the quietly spoken words.

“Come again?”

“My weakness,” Steve said with a somewhat rueful grin, popping a few loose nuts into his mouth.

The wrinkle in Loki’s forehead lessened somewhat upon the Captain’s admission but didn’t dissipate entirely. “A rather odd name for a personal weakness,” he replied, an inky brow arched in silent request for the man to elaborate.

Try as he might, Steve couldn’t detect any genuine derision in either Loki’s tone or expression, which was a very odd occurrence given the line of conversation and the fact that Loki never passed up an opportunity to take a cheap shot at an adversary. Then again, he’d probably be repaid tenfold come tomorrow, the rational part of his mind chided, reminding him once again that this temporary truce could well and truly be his worst idea ever.

“I’ve been told that you’re not one for sentiment, and I fully expect to catch hell for this later,” Steve said hesitantly, eyes flickering between Loki’s unnerving gaze and the untouched apple in his hand, “but a box of Cracker Jack is one of the few snacks from my time that I’m glad is still around for me to enjoy.”

“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but knowing the type of man you are…”

“It’s not exactly unexpected. Yeah, I know,” Steve sighed somewhat bitterly, waiting for Loki to turn his nose up at him or use that razor-sharp tongue to slash him to bits.

“I have always had a weakness for books,” was not the response the blond was expecting, but the surprise was more than pleasant.

“Really? I never would’ve guessed that,” he said with a wry smile, figuring that if Loki was willing to play nice then he’d play along too. “So, you’re a bookworm with a major sweet tooth who aspires to be a king?”

There were times when Loki found Steve’s frankness to be irritating, but at this moment he just found it endearing, something to bring a genuine smile to face. “It must be exhausting to be so righteous all the time; I’ve no idea how you stand it,” he said derisively, giving the blond a teasing grin before taking another bite of his apple.

“Just shut up and eat your damn apple,” Steve grumbled, wondering for the umpteenth time why he had willingly chosen to be there even though deep down he knew the answer. It was for the quiet plea and the unsteady hand that begged him not to leave, Loki with his walls lowered and remarkably vulnerable, and it came after their banter had faded away into the evening.

“Will you stay a while longer?”

Steve caught the hand that had been inching towards his and gave it a comforting squeeze, making no attempt to move from his position on Loki’s couch. It was answer enough.


End file.
